Food Stamp Fiasco:The Senate refuses to cut $20 billion out of $770 billion.

WSJ ^ | 6-19-12 | WSJ

[TurboZamboni]

The next time someone moans about Washington "austerity," tell them about the Senate's food stamp votes on Tuesday. Democrats and a few Republicans united to block even modest reform in a welfare program that has exploded in the last decade and is set to spend $770 billion in the next 10 years.

Yes, $770 billion on a single program. And you wonder why the U.S. had its credit-rating downgraded?

[TurboZamboni]

boondoggleliscous

[txrefugee]

Everyone wants to cut the USDA budget, and it should be cut. Currently, 70% goes to food stamp recipients, not to the farmers who grow our food. During the Food Stamp President’s term, the number applying for food stamps has soared.

[FreedBird]

How much interest does the average taxpayer have to pay each day on the national debt? Are these people insane?
Are they afraid they won’t get sacred votes so they can be re-elected?

[riverrunner]

Food stamps make people lazy. Hunger is a great motivator.

[riverrunner]

Food stamps make people lazy. Hunger is a great motivator.

[JCBreckenridge]

Senators siding with the Dims:

Scott Brown,
Susan Collins
Olympia Snowe and a surprise:

Nevada’s Dean Heller.

[Sooth2222]

"But the news in the Senate vote is that the political class still isn't remotely serious about reforming government. The voters are going to have to clean out a lot more spenders in November if they want real change."

True. It's getting to be time for the torches and pitchforks.

[upchuck]

the number applying for food stamps has soared.

From the article to back up your claim:

A record 44.7 million people received food stamps in fiscal 2011, up from 28.2 million as recently as 2008. The cost has more than doubled in that same period, to $78 billion, and is on track to account for 78% of farm bill spending over the next decade. One in seven Americans now qualifies.

And food stamp fraud is rampant.

Related: Food Stamp Fiasco: The Senate refuses to cut $20 billion out of $770 billion

[LibLieSlayer]

mitt will change none of this... he believes in this... he embraces the progressive way.

LLS

[muawiyah]

Given a stark choice (such as is portrayed here) between interest and people in food lines, I suppose there'll always be someone in the Senate who jumps the reservation eh.

BTW, if the federales get to pay 1.235% real interest on the national debt, how much is that payment?

[SeaHawkFan]

Look at a large majority of people getting food stamps, and you know they don’t need that much for food.

[JCBreckenridge]

Easy to calculate. ND is 94 percent as of FY 2011. GDP for USA is 14.59 trillion. Which means 94 percent of 1.235 percent or 169 billion a year. To put that into perspective, the department of education is 70 billion. So you are looking at 3 agencies.

[nascarnation]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luo40WjBKWI

[the invisib1e hand]

Why are they advertising foodstamps as “nutrition assistance”? Why are the advertising them at all?

[TurboZamboni]

Oh, “SNAP” !

[silverleaf]

why we need to decisively control the Senate

Harry Reid is an absolute fiasco and McConnell is his lap cat

[GailA]

That would not even be enough to cut off the illegal invaders from getting it. And believe me they get food stamps and a whole lot more, free housing, free medical care...you try going to the public ER if you have no ins...and you get a BIG BILL. But not them.

[GailA]

THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER VOTE FOR A RINO!

This is what you will get if you vote for the RINO Romney!

[Uncle Chip]

They won’t cut it because the number of people on the program has almost doubled in the last 3 years, and many of those now on the program are Republican families. If people need it, they should have access to it, but they also certainly should be able to stop the obvious fraud in the program.

[JCBreckenridge]

Exactly!

[TurboZamboni]

Not to mention all the 'free' breakfast, lunch,dinner offered at public schools ard rec centers with no requirement to prove income OR citizenship. This is in addition to the stuff mentioned above.

[newzjunkey]

You're demented. Starvation makes you lethargic and unable to make well-reasoned decisions, be safe or fully functional. It puts you and and others at risk.

You can't get your own housing without a job, you can't get work without a place to live. People will take advantage of those in precarious circumstances. We're becoming a culture of sociopaths.

[riverrunner]

No the more you give people the less they want to do for themselves.

There are plenty of people who are satisfied living off the dole. Who well never get a job or try to get one as long as they have a check from the government coming in.

We are fast becoming a Nation of people who want everything given to them.

[GailA]

3 meals per day and a snack...free after school babysitting. Which is all today’s schools are any way. Have been for at least 1.5 decades. I had to teach my youngest to read, hubby drummed his math into him. And he is a conservative as a result. Oldest just does not give a durn.

[GailA]

I’ve been behind them at the grocery store check out, where I very carefully used coupons to reduce my bill as I live on fixed income, and buy mostly healthy foods..while their 3 carts are full of chips, cookies, candy, soda, bottled water, and then they get extra money back and go to the customer’s counter buy cigs and lottery tickets with it.